English poem
Sonnet 129: The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action: and till action, lust Is perjur'd, murderous, bloody, full of blame, Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust; Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight; Past reason hunted; and no sooner had, Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait, On purpose laid to make the taker mad: Mad in pursuit and in possession so; Had, having, and in quest, to have extreme; A bliss in proof,-- and prov'd, a very woe; Before, a joy propos'd; behind a dream. All this the world well knows; yet none knows well To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
More by William Shakespeare
- Sonnet 125: Were't aught to me I bore the canopy
- Sonnet 126: O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power
- Sonnet 127: In the old age black was not counted fair
- Sonnet 128: How oft when thou, my music, music play'st
- Sonnet 12: When I do count the clock that tells the time
- Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun
- Sonnet 131: Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art
- Sonnet 132: Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me